Of late, I have been intensely engaged in this free RTS browser game called The Three Kingdoms Online. It is a long-term RTS (recruiting units and constructing buildings etc. take hours on end) similar to other browser games like Travian and Evony (Save the Queen! Free Forever!) that sees the player taking on the role of the lord of a tiny town within the Three warring states of China in 180 A.D. to 230 A.D. The player has control of his own hero unit which can command armies into battle with other towns around the player’s own, as well as participate in quests that re-enact actual events in the Romance of the Three kingdoms story.

Being a naturally-occurring fan of Romance of the Three Kingdoms (i.e. being a Chinese person), my attention was caught days back when I noticed a Facebook ad promoting the game whilst playing my usual FB apps. A normal Facebook user would usually receive a whole variety of Facebook ads during a regular session, so I felt extremely lucky to have chanced upon that ad. That spurred me on even further to add Three Kingdoms Online to my list of daily commitments in my NEET life.

(Later on I found that I would see at least 9 different variations of TK Online Facebook ads, appearing on a very regular basis. Those developers must’ve been really desperate for attention. They sure got what they wanted though, at least 30000 accounts active and inactive now exist on their newest server. *rolls eyes*)

The additional fun comes in the open-ended way you can give names to your in-game character and heroes. As for me, I’m known as Liu Bei (Liu Xuan De actually, since the name ‘Liu Bei’ was already taken), and I command two heroes Meng Da and Fa Zheng (once I have the capacity to command one more hero I shall name him Zhang Song. Go educate yourself on the Three Kingdoms if you don’t get where I’m headed with this). No doubt a feature like this has the potential to provide added realism and immersion for the Three Kingdoms enthusiast.

No, this isn't from the game itself, but it'll give you a good idea.

The game starts off being very complicated and intimidating to the first-time player, but a very helpful quest sequence that doubles as a tutorial helps the player ease into the role of ruler of his own town, and together with 7 days of Beginner’s Protection which prevents his town from being assailed too early into his game, the player has plenty of time to develop his potential as a successful leader. It helps that many accounts turn inactive within days of joining (people who joined but gave up halfway leaving their towns still intact albeit half-developed), I’ve been having a ball of a time sending my troops to siege to obtain additional resources with little difficulty (since most of those cities do not have any armies to protect them), steal some chickens and rape some women (just kidding).

If you’re a Three Kingdoms enthusiast like me and have the time to spare I highly suggest you give The Three Kingdoms Online a try. You can additionally log in through Facebook, Myspace and Reddit.

About AK

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AK, the Imperial Stormtrooper TK8315, is a loquacious person fond of expressing his thoughts through words and writing. He likes playing the guitar, cycling and playing computer games. During his spare time when he's not playing the guitar, cycling or playing computer games, he reads fiction, and when he's not reading fiction, he's writing fiction. AK is single and happy to stay that way, as time is best spent on oneself. This blog is a medium where AK logs thoughts and feelings about life, certain fanboy business and special event coverage, for the reading pleasure of others and the self-reflection of himself.